Wa calling off next strike on Shans?

War

Wa calling off next strike on Shans?

Since 12 May, vehicles carrying Wa troops have been returning from the battlefield in Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson province, where fighting has been taking place since March between the Shan State Army and the United Wa State's 171st Military Region, according to resistance and civilian sources.

"The withdrawals have been taking place at night, so we didn't realize what was happening until a Wa officer stationed in the township told us," a shopkeeper in Mongton, opposite Chiangmai's Chiangdao district, said.

"Honest to God, I don't know what's going on anymore," he was quoted as saying. "One leader said we go and fight the SSA and off we went. And now another leader is saying we pull back."

According to Ms Khurhsen Heng-awn, spokesperson for the SSA's political setup, the Restoration Council of Shan State, the leader who has been recalling the Wa fighters from the front in Loi Taileng, the SSA's principal stronghold, is "the 4th brother". The two ruling families of the Wa are Bao that claims 4 brothers and Wei that has 3. Bao Youhua is the 4th brother of Bao Youxiang, the UWSA's supreme commander.

Among the Wei brothers, Hsuehkang, 59, de facto commander of the 171st Military Region, who is believed to be the man behind the current conflict with the SSA, that has resulted in more than 700 casualties on both sides, is the best known.

Along the front, the Wa attackers have all moved back to the rear leaving only their undermanned positions, 500 meters away from the nearest Shan outpost.

"It is still too early to say whether or not the Wa have switched off their hardline position on us," said the SSA's liaison officer in Thailand.

Rangoon's ongoing campaign to disarm the ceasefire groups has been a cause of worry to the Wa leadership, according to Burma watchers.